Nearly 78 years after he was killed while trying to escape a detention camp in Cyprus and make his way to the newly established State of Israel, the IDF has identified the grave of fallen soldier Shlomo Haimson.
The IDF said Wednesday that an investigation by its Missing Persons Branch, together with the Defense Ministry, the Military Rabbinate and the Cyprus Detainees Association, determined that Haimson is buried in grave No. 11, row 2, in the Cyprus immigrants section of the Haifa cemetery. Haimson was killed by guards at the Karaolos detention camp on the night of September 29-30, 1948, and was initially buried in the Jewish cemetery in Margo, Cyprus.
Shlomo Haimson
(Photo: IDF)
In 1970, the remains of those buried at Margo were brought to Israel. Around 120 of the 163 people transferred in what became known as Operation Margo could not be identified and were buried as unknowns in a special section at Kfar Samir cemetery in Haifa. Haimson was among them.
Born in Romania in 1930, Haimson lost his father during World War II. After the war, he decided to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine with his mother, Ita, and his partner, Perla, aboard the immigrant ship Pan York-Kibbutz Galuyot. The ship was intercepted by British Mandate forces and its passengers were deported to Cyprus.
While held in the detention camp, Haimson joined the “Defenders’ Ranks,” which operated under the auspices of the Haganah and trained young men in preparation for military service after their arrival in Israel. After the establishment of the state, his mother and partner were released and immigrated to Israel as part of a group designated to establish Kibbutz Magen in the western Negev.
In September 1948, Haimson learned that his daughter, Miriam, had been born and decided to escape the camp. On the night of September 29-30, he joined eight others in breaking through the fences. Guards spotted them and opened fire. Haimson was killed, while his companions were captured and returned to the camp.
He was buried the following day in Margo’s Jewish cemetery. Because people at the camp did not know him well, the headstone placed on his grave carried no inscription.
The effort to identify him began decades later. In 2010, Amir Rogel, one of the founders of the Cyprus Detainees Association, launched a project to identify those buried anonymously and place their names on their graves. During that effort, researchers discovered that Haimson was recognized as a fallen member of Israel’s armed forces.
In 2023, a special investigative team was established within the IDF’s EITAN Missing Persons Branch. Investigators examined archival documents from around the world, collected testimonies, reconstructed and analyzed historical photographs and conducted archaeological surveys. The findings led the team, together with the Military Rabbinate, to conclude that Haimson had been buried at Margo and that his remains were transferred to Israel in 1970 and interred in grave No. 11, row 2, in Haifa.
The head of the IDF Personnel Directorate accepted the findings and approved the placement of a headstone bearing Haimson’s name.
His family, including his daughter Miriam, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who now live in Rio de Janeiro, were informed Tuesday night that the investigation had been completed. The news was delivered in the presence of Israel’s military attaché in Brazil, Col. Uri Ron, together with senior IDF and Defense Ministry officials and members of the investigative team.
Chief Human Resources Officer and head of the IDF Casualties Division Brig. Gen. Edna Ilia said the army’s obligation to Haimson and his family had never ended. “Seventy-eight years have passed since Shlomo Haimson fell in the detention camp, and our moral debt to his memory and his family has not ceased for a moment,” she said.
“Last night, when the IDF attaché stood in uniform in the family home in Rio de Janeiro and delivered the news to his daughter and descendants, the past embraced the present. The meeting is living proof that the IDF never abandons its soldiers, even after decades.”
Haimson’s family said the discovery brought profound relief after decades of uncertainty. “We are deeply moved, fulfilled and eternally grateful for the unwavering dedication, meticulous efforts and sensitivity shown by every professional and investigator involved in this noble mission,” the family said.
They added that knowing his story and sacrifice would now culminate in “a final resting place identified with his name” had brought “indescribable peace” to the family in Rio de Janeiro.
Haimson’s descendants are expected to travel to Israel for a state military ceremony in Haifa, where a memorial headstone bearing his name will be added to the grave, closing a circle that remained open for nearly eight decades.